Memorial tablet



April 12, 1927. 1,624,048

J. J. HAGGENJQS MEMORIAL TABLET Filed July e; 1925 25 gwvvmtoz" abkorq by thieves.

Patented Apr. 12, 1927.

JOHN JosnrH HAGGnNJos,

oF sT. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

MEMORIAL renter.

Application filed July 6, I

rlhis invention relates to memorial tablets, and more particularly to a tablet adapted to be 'anchored in the ground, such, for instance, as is used for marking' graves, 'al- 'though it may be used as a marker for 'other purposes. vSuch 'tablets usually :consist of a block of stone-like material adapted to rest on the ground and having inscriptions on an exposed face, usually the top. The vinscriptions may be formed directly on the block itself; but the preferred method is to attach to the block a plate which hears the inscriptions. Such plates are l"ordin'rarily wrought of bronze, the costliness tof which might incite their removal by unscrupulous persons. y l y Aocor'dingly, one of the objects ofthis invention isto provide means for attaching the plate to the base in sufeh a manner that its removal is rendered extremely diineult.

A further 'Objectis to provide meansfor securely anchoring the base in the groun'd to mitigate or prevent sublevation of the tablet by the frost and to discourage its removal Another object is to provide a tablet having a dem'arkinphzs urfaee which'sharply sets olf the Vportion of the tablet intended to appear above thhground from that portion adapt-ed to be imbedded therein as an anchor.

A furthery objectis` to provide means for preventing theaceuiriulation of `water,on the top surface of the block yunderneath .the plate and prevent disintegration of the blockv by the freezing of water retained in crevices therein. t 4 y I Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the following description of the preferred embodiment of vthis` invention.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which like numbers of reference denotes like parts wherever they occur,

Figure 1 is a view of the top face of the t)ablet, showing the plate attached to the ase;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the base Ias it appears without the plate;

Figure 3 is an end elevation partly in sec` tion on the line 3-8 in Figure 2, as it appears vvith the plate attached to the base;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 4-4 in Figure 3.

The base 1 is preferably molded of con- 1;9'25. gserial 110.41549.

crete, aii'd'llcompr'ises a blocker slab 2, preferhorizontal `cross#section toprevent vaccidental y variation ofthe oriented position of the tabletuonT the ground, such as might occur if the lateral surfae'e of thewprojection were cylin-v `'drlcal' l r co n'1cal.y ,Theproye'ction 6 is also preferably symmetrically disposed 'with ref erencetothe l2,*and thereforealso obloii'gsi'n horizontal section', l, To prevent vsuble atienof thet'ablet bythe frost, two of its opposing `lateral wfafce's,l as V7 and 8, are concave 4`at vtheir .intermediate portionsv 9, the

upperanrdnlower ,port-ion'swllQ of thel s'aid faces preferably Abfeingin vertical planes to oooooooo tho oo-.fourth ofoholorojoooioo the sakeof strength, also, the concavities 9 and y8, a1 idn"ot in the wider lateral faces y11 and l2, which are preferably plane surfaces Thebottomface 13 of the projfotion 'o' iol profoialolv o plne ,horizontal suijftiee fso thatvit the hpri'zontal bot-k ce supporting .the weightof the tablet iii the mostneffective manner.' The bottom Mface 5 facilitates the setting of the tablet .on the ground' in that it forms a deooorloiogooofooo whioh Shortly-sooo off tho. portifoiip)4 of the tabltwiiitended to appear ooovo tho ofoomoifoolo ohooooooioo o @dootd. .te eib'dol-thfelriji as. an anchor. Furthermore, the proportiensof the several dimensions of the tablet relatively to one another, as shown in the drawings, which are made to scale, are such that a maximum anchorage is secured with a minimum of material. The inclined top face 3 prevents or mitigates accumulation of water thereon, which. in cold weather, is apt to freeze in any slight crevices therein and promote disintegrationl of 'the block.

The marginal portions 14 only of the face 3 may be finished smooth to .snugly fit the marginal flange 15 on the underside 16 of a plate 17 g and the interior portions 18 of the face 3 may remain rough or unfinished. In the face 3, adjacent each end thereof, is a cavity 19, preferably cylindrical, and enlarging at its lower portion, as at 20. Plate 17 may bear suitable inscriptions or `figures on its top f'ace 2l, and may have a marginal flange 22 thereon. Plate 17 is preferably cast of bronze, and has formed integral therewith stems 23 projecting from the underside 16 thereofl and enlarging at their lower ends into heads 24. Stems 23 and heads 24 are so disposed on plate 17 that, when the plate is in position on the top face 3 of the base, the stems and heads will project concentrically into respective cavities 19. Preparatory to setting the plate 17 on the base 1, the sockets 19 are filled with plastic cement, molten lead, or 4other suitable binding material 25. The plates are then set on the base, the stems 23 entering the sockets 19, which become firmly imbedded in the binder 25 by reason of the heads 24 when the binder hardens or solidifies, the latter in turn becoming firmly fixed in the sockets 19 by reason of the recesses 2O therein. A. sufficient quantity of binder is placed in the cavities 19 to insure their being completely filled when the plate is fixed in place; and, to attain this end, an excess of binder may be used, which excess will be accommodated by the space underneath the plate 17 when the stems 23 of the latter displace a portion of the binder while they are entering the sockets 19. It will thus be observed that the marginal flange 15, in addition to facilitating the fitting of the plate to the base, also raises the underside 16 ofthe plate somewhat above the face 3, to provide a space which will take care of any overflow of bind-er 25 from the sockets 19. This provision for overflow facilitates complete lilling of the cavities 19, so that, should any water creep under the plate 17, there will be no cavities, by reas-on of the incomplete filling of the sockets, in which the water may accumulate and produce disintegration when freezing in cold weather. It is worthy of note that this means for securing the plate to the base is inaccessible after setting of the filler 25, so that it is exceedingly difiicult to remove the plate from thebase, and the base 1 is not readily .removed because of its firm anchorage in the ground,

rampas Having thus fully described this invention, I hereby reserve the benefit of all changes in form, arrangement, order, or use of parts, as it is evident that many minor changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A memorial tablet 'comprising a base presenting an inclined top face, including a raised central portion defined by a smooth plane marginal portion and having a plurality of cavities disposed at the opposite ends in said central portion and presenting constricted mouths, a plate having a marginal flange on its underside adapted to fit the marginal porti-on of said inclined top face, a plurality oi anchoring stems having enlarged heads projecting` into said cavities from the underside of said plate and a filling of binding material in each of said cavities.

2. A memorial tablet comprising a base presenting an inclined top face having a smooth plane marginal portion slightly depressed below the central portion and having a cavity in the central portion; a plate having a marginal iiange on its underside whereby it seats on the marginal portions of the inclined top face of the base, and having integral anchoring means projecting from its underside into the said cavity; and a filling of binding material in the said cavity.

3. A memorial tablet comprising a base presenting an inclined top face having a plane marginal portion low-er than the central portion and having a pair of cavities disposed at opposite ends in the central portion and presenting constricted mouths; a plate having a marginal flange on its underside adapted to lit the marginal portion of the said inclined top face and having a pair of integral anchoring stems with enlarged heads projecting from its underside into the respective cavities; and a filling of binding material in each of the said cavities.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

JOHN JOSEPH HAGGENJOS, 

